What would day one of E3 be without a few release dates been given to highly anticipated titles?

Left 4 Dead

First off was Valve, who announced to an unsuspecting audience that it is currently working on Left 4 Dead 2, and furthermore that it will be released on November 17 2009. The sequel to the critically acclaimed zombie blaster will be released on Xbox 360 and PC.

“(Left 4 Dead 2 will be) a much larger game than the original with more co-operative campaigns, more Versus campaigns, and maps for Survival mode available at launch.” Promised Valve.

We aren’t sure that launching a first person shooter within two weeks of Bioshock 2 and Modern Warfare 2 is the best way to make an impact, but we are pleased that Valve is looking to expand on the original experience and is aiming to make the sequel bigger, and hopefully a bit longer, than its predecessor.

Halo 3: ODST

The standalone expansion to Bungie’s Halo 3 also received a firm release date, with Microsoft scheduling its release for September 22 2009.

The Xbox 360 exclusive was not the only Halo announcement of the day, with Microsoft introducing Halo Reach.

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